2020 Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg
There is plenty of debate in Democratic Party circles about Mike Bloomberg, who is one of the party’s newest and few remaining presidential candidates. Some voters feel that Bloomberg’s record is not liberal enough on certain issues. Others feel that Bloomberg’s bypassing of the first several Democratic presidential primaries and caucuses, such as Iowa and New Hampshire, should not be rewarded. And still other voters say that Bloomberg is trying to “buy” the election, having spent nearly $200 million in his first two months of campaigning alone. However, money does not always translate into votes or poll ratings, but Bloomberg has been running third in recent nationwide Democratic primary polls, and is in the lead in the crucial state of Florida. Obviously, Bloomberg is doing something right. And that something seems to be Bloomberg’s ads.
Now, it’s true that Bloomberg can put up lots of ads with his massive campaign spending, and he is doing that. TV viewers, radio listeners and consumers of social media like Twitter and Facebook report that they can’t go more than a few minutes without being hit with another Bloomberg ad. However, once again, it’s not just the quantity of Bloomberg’s ads that is noteworthy, but also the quality. His might be the best crop of ads any candidate has ever produced. Here are a couple of examples. First up is an ad that aired on the evening of Donald Trump‘s recent State of the Union address, and which took on Trump in a general election style that Joe Biden has been doing for his entire campaign:
These general election-style ads are effective because, in terms of optics, they can elevate a candidate above the level of the party nomination battle and seemingly onto the stage with the incumbent president, even before the candidate wins the nomination. The second Bloomberg ad example, however, brings things down to earth, by taking on one of Bloomberg’s opponents for the nomination, Bernie Sanders.
We need to unite to defeat Trump in November. This type of "energy" is not going to get us there. https://t.co/bPuUZMs2d6 pic.twitter.com/Tdp6mpWjcX
— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) February 17, 2020
Again, this is a very effective ad because it “brings the receipts,” using plenty of actual examples to make the point that Bernie Sanders’ supporters are intolerant extremists, Sanders is unwilling or unable to reign them in, and, by extension, Sanders is a poor leader who is ill-suited for America’s Chief Executive position.
In contrast, some of the most important ways in which we can judge whether a presidential candidate would make a good president are whether he or she hires good people for the presidential campaign, and whether he or she does an effective job of executing the campaign. In that regard, Bloomberg, while untested in terms of debates and primary voting thus far, has done an excellent job, and is likely to be a major figure in the ongoing presidential nomination battle.
Photo by katie chao and ben muessig, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/Iq7Mdm
